Games above .500?

According to Bill, my record is 127-104-9, putting me 23 games over .500. I have no idea what the “over .500” part means or why it matters but Bill seemed to think it was really impressive. What’s the big deal about .500? Who cares? Why not just say that I picked 59 percent correctly or whatever the number is? Bill said that “we don’t do it that way” and that .500 equals 50 percent. OK, why not say that I’m 23 games over 50 percent? Or 23 games over 50/50? I don’t get the .500 thing at all.

I’ll admit to wondering the same thing myself. Heck, say they’re 23 games above .5000, it’d be the same thing. The Lakers being 15 games “over .500” right now is a heck of a lot different than saying the same thing at the end of the season. It’s a meaningless number, far better to look at winning percentage.